In order to operate on a wireless network, a wireless device (e.g., a cellular phone, wireless sensor) generally must be registered on the wireless network. To activate the wireless device on the wireless network, a wireless provider generally undertakes a practice referred to herein as “activation,” in which the wireless device is identified to the wireless network using an identifier (such as an international mobile subscriber identifier (IMSI) or similar identifying number, which, in many cases, is encoded on a subscriber identity module (SIM) of the wireless device. In a general sense, this process involves creating a record for the device. In some cases, the record comprises the identifying number, as well as an addressing number (e.g., a phone number for a wireless phone), such as an international ISDN number (“MSISDN”) or similar number. This record identifies the device to the network and provides information about the capabilities of the device.
When a new wireless device is purchased, the wireless network must activate the wireless device before the user can use the wireless device on the wireless network. There are, in general, three different ways in which a wireless device can be activated.
In the first case, the wireless device is preactivated prior to sale of the wireless device to the user. This process may be used most frequently for prepaid wireless phones. Under a preactivation scheme, the device has installed therein a SIM card that is assigned an activated IMSI before the device is sold. This technique, while technically feasible, has several downsides. First, because the IMSI is assigned and activated before the device is sold, there may be an enhanced risk of theft and/or other supply-chain “leakage.” Second, this technique may require substantial investment in allocating and/or activating IMSIs early in the supply chain, resulting in inefficiencies (for example, maintain a relatively large stock of activated IMSIs corresponding to devices that may not be sold or used for some time). Further, if the supply chain involves rebranding the devices, some of the allocated and activated IMSIs might never be used. Moreover, preactivation of a SIM card generally requires the assignment of an MSISDN to the SIM (by associating the MSISDN with the IMSI assigned to the SIM). Given that MSISDNs (and possibly IMSIs) may be relatively scarce resources, this solution may be less than optimal. Another inefficiency may be the allocation of space in databases of a wireless network with which the wireless device is configured to be used. For example, space in a Home Location Register of the wireless network may be allocated without ever being used.
In the second case, the wireless device is activated at the point-of-sale. While this technique may be suitable for applications in which the wireless device is sold at a relatively sophisticated reseller or agent of the wireless provider, it is unavailable in many cases (including, for example, in the case of prepaid phones or phones that are purchased at locations other than dedicated resellers).
The third option is to sell a wireless device in an unactivated state and require the user to activate the wireless device before use. Because, as noted above, the device is inoperable on the network until activation, the wireless device itself may not be able to be used as the activation vehicle. Hence, the user may have to call the wireless network provider (using a different phone), visit the wireless network provider's website (using a separate computer or some other device), and/or the like. This option may be less than desirable because it imposes an inconvenience on the user, resulting in a competitive disadvantage for the provider in relation to techniques that do not impose similar inconveniences on the user.